KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, AUGUST 16, 2010 / SPORTS
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Quigley, Opurum top RB chart
Sophomore running back Toben Opurum makes his first career touchdown against Northern Colorado Sept. 5.
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
BY CLARK GOBLE
cqoble@kansan.com
Sixth-year senior Angus Quigley knows he's been on the football team forever.
His running back peers don't let him forget it either.
"I've heard it all," Quigley said, "from that I played with Gale Sayers to I was here in Mitchell's first term and that I'm an assistant coach. It's all fun and games."
But right now, Quigley's the one sitting on top of the depth chart at running back. Coach Turner Gill said that the coaching staff, including new running backs coach Reggie Mitchell, is still trying to find out how they want to use the running game. Regardless of the pass/run play-calling ratio, Gill wants a feature back that can get 20-25 carries per game.
"I just want that guy to be a physical runner," Gill said. "I want him to be athletic, make people miss. And hopefully we get a home-run hitter who has the speed that can take it the distance."
As for who might get those reps, the competition is wide open.
Sophomore Toben Opurum was the leading rusher last year, picking up 554 yards on 133 carries and scoring nine touchdowns. He was slowed in spring practices by an ankle injury suffered at the end of last season and, as a result, he didn't find his name on the two-deep depth chart released in May. Opurum said the spring was "real frustrating."
Redshirt freshman DeSaunan Sands, 5-foot-7 and 190 lbs., sits second on the depth chart.
"A lot of people would use that as motivation." Opurum said. "I expect to see myself at the top of any depth chart. I have to use that to get back to the top where I feel that I belong."
Mitchell knows that freshmen Brandon Bourbon and James Sims have talent, but he said it's hard for first-year guys to pick up the offense quickly, especially when it comes to pass protection.
injury.
Junior Rell Lewis had a 42-yard reception in Kansas' final game of the season against Missouri, but he's out for 2-3 weeks with a knee
Opurum said all the guys are getting pretty even reps in early practices.
"All it's doing is making each and every one of us better every week," Opurum said. "I think it's a competition that's going to keep going until one of us can emerge as the number one."
Mitchell certainly appreciates
that the coaching staff has a little less than a month to see if any one back will emerge. If no one sticks out, Gill knows he might have to wait until the middle of the season to get a true answer for the position.
Quigley wants the chance to start at running back like he did at times in 2008, but that doesn't mean he minds the competition.
"Toben's pushing me, I'm pushing Toben," Quigley said. "Rell's pushing Sands and Sands is pushing me. That's the way it has to be. If you have a core of guys who are competing for a spot, you can't help but be successful at that spot."
— Edited by Tim Dwyer
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Goshomore Linebacker Huldon Tharp dives at Duke quarterback Sean Renfree, forcing him to throw the ball away. The Jayhawks won the Sept. 19 game, 44-16.
Tharp to miss 2010 season with injury
Sophomore linebacker Huldor Tharp will miss the 2010 season because of a foot injury.
Coach Turner Gill said that the injury will definitely affect the linebacking corps.
"He definitely was going to be a guy who was going to play," Gill said.
Tharp was slotted in as the starter at weakside linebacker on the preseason depth chart. Gill hinted that the coaching staff might tinker with a couple players' positions to fill the gap.
Freshman Josh Richardson was second on the depth chart at weakside linebacker.
Clark Goble
Despite all the turnover the Jayhawks have this year, the offensive line remained completely intact. All five starters at the end of last year - seniors Brad Thorson and Sal Capra, junior Jeremiah Hatch and sophomores Tanner Hawkinson and Trevor Marrongelli - return and look to have a crucial role protecting the new quarterback. Earlier this summer, the Jayhawks lost junior Jeff Spikes for the season with a leg injury.
"We both want to know, but we're just making ourselves better now." Webb said. "So I think the competition is going to offer new off the end."
Controversy. Battle. Competition. Call it what you want, but both sophomore quarterback Kale Pick and his freshman counterpart Jordan Webb are ready for a starter to be named at their position.
Pick, the only quarterback on the roster with any FBS experience, has only 22 yards in mop-up time accumulated last season. Webb, who is almost identical to Pick in height and weight, redshifted last season
Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Chuck Long is not working on a deadline to name a starter, but he does have a comfort zone he would like to stick to.
"The latest you ever want to go is 10 days before the first game. You'd like to give them 10 days at the very minimum," Long said. "That's as far as I've gone before; we've named the quarterback anywhere before that. But again, that's up to coach Gill."
Believe it or not, Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco could end up influencing the Jayhawks' most talented receiver.
Speaking to former teammate and Cincinnati Bengals rookie Dez Briscoe on Facebook, senior wide receiver Johnathan Wilson said he learned a thing or two about the duo referring to themselves as Batman and Robin.
["Dez] was talking about Chad and T.O. and how it's crazy, but he said he's learned a lot from those two guys," Wilson said. "I'm just excited for him to be in that situation because he can learn a lot from those two guys, and when he comes back, I'll try to learn what he learned from them."
Wilson also received words of advice from former teammate Kerry Meier, now with the Atlanta Falcons.
"He just told me to be a leader because I'm the oldest one now," Wilson said. "I learned from them, so obviously I need to do the same thing, teach guys and show them the ropes."
Last year, senior Angus Quigley was a backup linebacker. But right now, he's sitting on top of the preseason depth chart at running back. Quigley rushed for 309 yards in 2008. Sophomore Toben Opurum started as a true freshman last year, but it is clear that the competition for carries will run through August. Look out for freshman Brandon Bourbon, a raw talent with the straight-away speed that Gill loves. We may not see anything settled until Big 12 play starts up.